The Secret Christmas Child. Lee McClain Tobin

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СКАЧАТЬ still trying to recover from the encounter with Gabby.

      He’d made a fool of himself, not that it mattered. Acting touchy and defensive about his amputation. Implying she’d been a bad granddaughter. Showing his hurt feelings about what she’d done to him.

      You’d think he was one of the at-risk kids in his own program, lashing out and blaming others.

      He guessed he had the right to blame Gabby, since she’d lied about her feelings and cheated on him in a very public way. But he’d thought he’d overcome that, what with all that had happened since then.

      Nope. Seeing her had brought out every immature desire to retaliate that he’d had when he’d first seen his cousin’s social media post, arm slung around Gabby. “My new girl,” it had said.

      In his grim barracks in Afghanistan, Reese had ripped down his photo of her, discarded the letter he’d been writing, blocked her on everything.

      He didn’t need to go back to that time when his hope had overcome his good sense. He needed to focus on the Rescue Haven program and forget about his old dreams of love and family.

      “I’m here,” called a strident voice out in the barn. “Just in time for the little rebels. Want me to feed and water them?”

      He went to the door. “Hey, Tammy,” he said to the woman who occasionally filled in for his assistant. “Thanks for coming in on short notice. Why don’t you let them hang around and see to the dogs for half an hour and then settle them down with a snack? This interview I’m doing shouldn’t take long.” Gabby’s grandmother had been mysterious about this candidate but had insisted the person had stellar qualifications.

      An uneasy possibility occurred to him. Nana wouldn’t have... No. She wouldn’t be that insensitive.

      Or maybe she would, because walking through the barn door was none other than Gabby herself.

      He couldn’t school his face in time. All the hurt, anger and disbelief must have shown, right along with the intense attraction he still felt.

      She stopped walking toward him as if repelled by his powerful emotions.

      He didn’t need Tammy to see this interaction and spread it all over town. “My office is in here,” he said gruffly. He turned and walked inside, almost hoping she wouldn’t come along.

      Only when he sat down behind his big, messy metal desk did he see that Gabby had followed him, but she stood in the doorway as if she wasn’t sure she dared to enter. “Nana didn’t tell you it was me, did she.” It wasn’t a question but a statement.

      He shook his head, straightening papers on his desk as he tried to compose himself.

      Nana had set him up, telling him she had the perfect candidate to fill the job he so desperately needed to fill.

      But Gabby had known whom she’d be working for, obviously. “Why’d you come?” he asked her. “I wouldn’t think you’d want to work for me.”

      She was still standing in the doorway, gripping the edge of the frame, eyes wide and vulnerable. “Um, I really need a job while I’m in town. Nana said you were hiring and wanted to talk to me. Obviously, she was wrong. I’ll go.”

      She half turned, and only then did he realize she’d dressed up; beneath her heavy parka, she was wearing nice blue pants and a white shirt, boots with a little heel. Her normally wild hair was tamed back into a bun.

      She wanted the job. She was trying.

      Since she’d made an effort, he should at least talk to her. A courtesy interview. It would be good for him, get him used to the fact that Gabby might be around for a few weeks. “Wait a minute,” he said, and pulled out a chair for her. “Have a seat. We might as well see this through for Nana’s sake.”

      She looked at him for a moment, shook her head. “Don’t patronize me,” she said, her voice low. “If you aren’t going to consider me, I’ll leave.”

      He didn’t answer that because he didn’t know how. “The kids are a handful,” he said instead. “I need someone to work with them.”

      “You know I was working on a degree in education before...” She trailed off.

      Before what? he wondered, but didn’t ask. He’d admired her interest in teaching, her determination to get a college degree; it was part of why he hadn’t pushed to get married or even engaged right after high school. He’d known that was the right thing to do when she’d been so happy about her studies the summer after her freshman year, during the friendly get-togethers that they’d kept nonromantic by mutual agreement.

      After her sophomore year, when he’d been getting ready to go overseas, he’d had more trouble holding his feelings in check. He’d asked her for a commitment and she’d agreed.

      And then he’d left, and everything had changed.

      Shouts, barks and the sounds of a scuffle came from the barn. “Reese!” Tammy called. “Help!”

      Reese was up and jogging past Gabby before Tammy finished speaking. “Be right back,” he called over his shoulder.

      In the middle of the barn, two of his more complicated charges were squared off and circling, both faces twisted in anger. The problem was, David was tiny, and Wolf, as he liked to be called, was huge. Between them sat a Doberman, looking back and forth while they shouted at each other.

      “I can’t handle these kids,” Tammy said. “If nobody has raised them right...”

      And that was exactly why he didn’t want to hire Tammy in a permanent capacity. She had such a negative attitude toward the kids.

      He waded in, putting a hand on Wolf’s shoulder because he was the big one, holding up his other arm to keep David back.

      “Get that thing away from me!” David reared back from Reese’s hook-hand prosthetic.

      Reese couldn’t help the flush that came up his face. He was getting used to the amputation, a little bit, but to a kid it had to be pretty horrific.

      “Dude, he’s, like, a war hero, shut up!” one of the other boys said, and that made Reese flush even more.

      “Yeah!”

      “What’s wrong with you—aren’t you an American?”

      More boys chimed in and a couple of them advanced on David. This was why Reese needed an assistant; Wolf was straining toward David now, too, and it took most of Reese’s strength to hold him back.

      Tammy stood, back pressed against the side of the barn, arms crossed protectively over herself. No help there.

      “Okay, everyone.” Gabby’s brisk, matter-of-fact tone stopped the boys whose arms were raised to attack David. “Pretty sure Reese is going to give you some hard homework if you get into a fight. Break it up.”

      She was five-two and couldn’t have weighed much more than one hundred pounds, but she had calm authority in her voice, and she walked right in between David and the other boys.

      Even Wolf СКАЧАТЬ